Ski Teams Finish Third at Williams Carnival

The Middlebury ski team traveled to Williamstown, Mass. this past weekend, Feb. 14 and 15, to take part in the Williams Carnival. Jiminy Peak was the venue for the carnival’s alpine events while Prospect Mountain held the Nordic events.

Middlebury found itself in a tie for fourth place after day one, but was able to improve on day two to claim third place overall. UVM won the carnival with 970 points, Dartmouth was next with 834 and Middlebury followed with 640.

In the men’s slalom event, Middlebury was impressive with five finishing in the top ten. Hig Roberts ’14 led the Panthers again, claiming fourth place. Colin Hayes ’17 was second for Middlebury in sixth place, Ghassan Gedeon Achi ’16 was seventh and Christopher McKenna ’17 rounded the consecutive trio in eighth. Nick Bailey ’14 was the fifth Middlebury man to finish in the top ten, snagging tenth place.

The women’s alpine team’s top finisher was Kara Shaw ’15, whose two runs cemented her just outside the top ten in thirteenth place. Yina Moe-Lange ’15 crept into the top 20 while fellow junior Katelyn Barclay ’15 was 25th. Elle Gilbert ’16 was only 27 hundredths of a second behind Barclay, good for 26th place.

The Nordic teams took part in relays on day one. Each team comprised three racers and each individual time was added together to determine the team time. The Middlebury men’s top team combined for a time of 31:34, good for ninth place. That squad was made up of Patrick McElravey ’17, Dylan McGarthwaite ’15 and Ben Lustgarten ’14. Lustgarten was dominant in his individual performance, finishing the course in the fastest time amongst all competitors.

The top Middlebury women’s Nordic team also raced to a ninth-place finish in a time of 38:34. The top three women competing were Heather Mooney ’15, Kaitlin Fink ’16 and Stella Holt ’15.

On day two, the alpine teams competed in the giant slalom event. Roberts was the only competitor under 1:43.00, as he finished the course in 1:42.81. With this time, the senior won the giant slalom event and his second first-place finish in the event this season.

First-year McKenna was also impressive as he came away with fifth place.

Moe-Lange finished the carnival with her sixth top-10 finish, coming in at eighth place. A fifteenth-place finish for Gilbert is the best yet for the sophomore. The last scorer was Shaw, who finished in 26th place.

The men’s Nordic team took part in the 10K classic on day two and had a strong showing. Lustgarten finished fourth overall, McElravey was 22nd, and Adam Luban ’17 was 35th.

The same three women highlighted the 5K classic for the Nordic competition. Mooney  continued her consistent performances as she finished the weekend with her seventh top-ten finish. Holt was eighteenth while Fink finished in 43rd place.

“As a women’s team one of our goals throughout the season has been to utilize pack skiing, meaning using our depth as a team during races and pushing each other towards even better results,” Holt said. “Next weekend at Middlebury Carnival there will be a mass start race, meaning everyone will go at once, a huge opportunity for us as a women’s team to show our ability to have a strong race together.

This coming weekend, Middlebury will host the Eastern Intercollegiate Skiing Association (EISA) Championships as part of the 91st annual winter carnival. The contest will take place over two days, Friday, Feb. 21 and Saturday, Feb. 22. The Middlebury College Snow Bowl will hold the alpine events and the Rikert Nordic Center will host the Nordic events.

“We would again like to win a carnival as a team like we were able to at UVM two weeks ago,” Holt said. “To do this we know we have to get three skiers in the top ten and likely need one or two within the top five, so we would be especially proud to pull it off again. All of these goals are only within reach because of the depth of our women’s team this year.”

As the end of the season nears and each skier’s carnival finishes become increasingly important, a proper plan is important and has been constructed by the Middlebury ski team.

“From here until the end of NCAA’s, proper rest becomes really important,” Holt said. “Between now and mid-March we will be finding the balance between rest and training enough to keep our bodies moving and our brains happy and confident in our ability on skis.”